Great mosque shows hubris

The City Central Mosque in Hanley is a fairly special building. As you can see, it has a huge great green dome, and, as it stands near the top of a hill, it can be seen from afar. It is one of the biggest places of worship in the whole of north Staffordshire. The Sunni Muslims who run it had hoped for great things from it.
However, especially in this month of Ramadan - a time for reflection -, this grand edifice is a warning as much as a triumph.

The fact is that, after five years of building, it is still not finished. Yes, there was a very unpleasant arson attack on it by a pair of racists, which did hold up work, but that was eighteen months ago; and it's now a puzzle as to why work seems to have been at a standstill for so long.


It seems like the Muslim community has just run out of money - despite having got the land for a peppercorn rent of just £1 a year. Admittedly we are in the midst of one of the worst economic recessions for a century, but, yes, something has gone wrong.
In the bid to make something huge and grandiose, pride has, in this instance, led to a considerable fall.

The Stoke-on-Trent Muslim Welfare and Community Association, which has responsibility for the project, say that the work will get back on track eventually, which it better be because already (see picture, left) the basic fabric is showing signs of disrepair, decay, and simple lack of maintenance. 


I, for one, really do hope that it is finished sometime. This district of Hanley needs a boost, and a finished, shiny new mosque would give it that boost.
But it's hard to know when completion will happen.

I am reminded by all this of Shelley's poem 'Ozymandias'